Caught on Camera: Probe launched after Chinese beer giant Tsingtao's employee found peeing in tank

After a video went viral purportedly showing a Chinese Beer manufacturing company Tsingtao’s employee peeing into a tank that was allegedly holding components for the company’s well-known beer, Chinese authorities launched an investigation. The video, which surfaced online on Thursday, shows a worker entering the container over a high wall while wearing a helmet and outfit. After entering, the person proceeds to urinate inside the container. It has been widely shared on social media ever since it became public.

The company said that it had promptly notified the authorities upon seeing the video and that the ingredient batch had been sealed. China’s largest exporter and one of the country’s leading breweries is Tsingtao. “Tsingtao beer No.3 factory” is the location tag of the video, according to a Friday report by the local news source The Paper. Business publication “National Business Daily” later quoted an internal source stating that neither the one in the video nor the one who took it were direct employees of the business. The Pingdu City bureau of Market Supervision and Administration, where the factory is located, said in a statement released on Friday that they saw the video right away, assembled a team, and conducted an on-site investigation. They also sealed the entire batch of ingredients that were shown in the video. It further stated that if details were verified, the agency would take the situation seriously. Tsingtao said on Friday that it “attached great importance” to the online video, and the police had started an investigation. Chinese social media has been shocked by the clip, as the brand is hugely well-known both at home and abroad. “A piss that will ruin a lot of money, this worker has done some real damage here,” a top-liked comment on the X-like platform Weibo reads. “Good thing I don’t drink beer - but it’s unimaginable if this brand is finished because of this,” one user said. “Is this the first time though?” another comment reads. Tsingtao Brewery shares saw a significant decline upon the opening of the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Monday morning, but by the afternoon, they were essentially unchanged.